A federal appeals court handed down a ruling Friday declaring that New Jersey’s prohibitions on assault-style firearms and ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds violate the U.S. Constitution.
The decision marks a first in American legal history — no federal appeals court had previously struck down a state-level ban on such weapons. The ruling arrives at a particularly significant moment, as the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to take up the question of whether bans on semiautomatic rifles conflict with Second Amendment protections. Adding to the legal complexity, a separate federal appeals court upheld Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons just last week.
Friday’s ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expands upon a July 2024 decision by a federal judge, who had found only New Jersey’s specific ban on AR-15s to be unconstitutional while allowing the state’s restrictions on larger magazines to remain in place. The appeals court went further, declaring the state’s entire ban on weapons it classifies as “assault firearms” — as well as its limits on “large capacity ammunition magazines” — to be unconstitutional.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a Democrat whose office argued in defense of the law, issued a statement calling the ruling “as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect.”
“Every other federal circuit court to consider the issue has come out the other way,” Davenport said. “Assault weapons and large capacity magazines play a dangerous role in the modern epidemic of mass shootings, and New Jersey acted reasonably and lawfully in restricting them. We are considering our options.”
On the other side of the debate, John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, praised the decision as a “historic victory for the NRA, the Second Amendment, and law-abiding Americans.”
“The Third Circuit has struck down these unconstitutional so-called assault weapons bans and magazine bans in New Jersey, affirming what we’ve always known: the right to keep and bear arms, including commonly-owned rifles and standard-capacity magazines, is fundamental and cannot be infringed by politicians who prioritize control over constitutional freedoms,” Commerford said in a statement.
